2009 is the 150th anniversary of the opening of the port of Yokohama, which began when Admiral Matthew Perry sailed his “black ships” into the harbor to demand that Japan open itself to trade with the United States. When the city was designated as Japan’s first open port on June 2, 1859, it was little more than a fishing village located 30 km south of the Japanese capital of Edo, but it was quickly adopted as a base of operations by the fast-growing class of foreign entrepreneurs who helped it to modernize rapidly, introducing the first Western-style newspaper, the first gas lighting and (thankfully) the first beer brewery, which would become Kirin. Today Yokohama has grown into one of the world’s foremost cities, with 3.69 million citizens and dozens of diverse industries. I’ve always had a soft spot for the city, no doubt due to its San Francisco-like beauty and its long history of cultural interaction with foreigners, both from the West and via its well-developed Chinatown, which is a great place to eat in. My hometown of San Diego happens to be the sister city of Yokohama, another reason for the city to be at the top of my favorite places in Japan.
Yokohama celebrates its 150th anniversary as an open city.
